Occupant propelled scooter



April 23, 1963 F. L. HATCHER ETAL 3,083,795

OCCUPANT PROPELLED SCOOTER Filed Jan. 19, 1961 INVENTORS FRANKLIN, L.HATCHER F I G 2 By gBlgRTgooospu ATTORNEYS United States This inventionrelates generally to scooters and more particularly to an improved toyscooter for children.

In the 'age group from three to six, tricycles have proved popular as atoy as well as educational for providing a child with experience in thefeel of motion. For children in the age group from nine to twelve andhigher, bicycles are most popular. There is thus a period from six tonine when the average child is too old for a tricycle and too young tosafely master the techniques of riding a bicycle.

An intermediate motion type toy for children in the latter mentioned agegroup is the conventional scooter which ordinarily comprises a footboardhaving a single front and a single rear wheel. However, even the scooteris somewhat diificult to use safely since it must be balanced on the twowheels in tandem. Further, the user of the scooter must usually supporthis entire weight with one foot while employing the other foot to propelhimself. Thus, the popularity of scooters is more concentrated in theolder children within the six to nine year old age group.

With the foregoing in mind, it is a primary object of the presentinvention to provide a moving vehicle type toy for children ideallysuited to an age range from six to nine in which the degree of skillrequired to use the vehicle lies between that necessary for a tricycleand that necessary for a bicycle.

More particularly, it is an object to provide an improved toy scooterwhich is stable by itself and will remain upright when not in motion andyet may be propelled by appropriate shifting of the users weight on thescooter in a manner similar to that used to propel a bicycle if only asingle pedal were available.

A more general object of this invention is to provide an improvedscooter type toy which is somewhat different from conventional tricyclesor bicycles, thereby providing a novel challenge to children at anintermediate age between those using exclusively tricycles and bicycles.

Other objects of the invention are to provide an improved scooter whichis rugged in construction and relatively economical to manufacture.

Briefly, these and other objects and advantages of this invention areattained by providing a conventional type scooter footboard terminatingat its rear end in a pair of wheels. The wheels are co axial and spacedapart a distance corresponding substantially to the width of thefootboard so that a degree of balance and stability is provided and thescooter structure will remain upright even when stationary. The frontportion of the footboard terminates in a conventional single wheel andsuitable steering mechanism therefor. The pair of rear wheels themselvesare eccentrically mounted to the rear portion of the footboard in such amanner that rotation of the wheels will cause the end portion of thefootboard to move up and down swinging generally about the frontsteering wheel as a pivot.

In operation, the user, by shifting his weight up and down, can pump thefootboard in such a. manner as to maintain the rear wheels in rotatingmotion and thus propel himself over the ground. In this connection, thefootboard is of sufficient width to accommodate both feet of the userwhich move simultaneously to effect the pumping action as opposed toalternate movement as in the case of a bicycle.

3,86,795 Patented Apr. 23, 1963 A better understanding of the inventionwill be had by now referring to one embodiment thereof as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is an overall perspective view of the improved scooter of thisinvention; and,

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of the scooter together with aphantom line representation thereof useful in explaining the operationof the invention.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, the scooter includes a footboard 1tterminating at its rear end portion in a pair of wheels 11 and 12co-axially aligned as shown. Preferably, the distance between the wheels11 and 12 as indicated by the letter d corresponds substantially to theWidth W of the footboard 10.

The front end portion of the footboard 19 terminates in a steering meanswhich may take the form of a simple steering trunnion 13 receiving asteering column 14. The lower end of the steering column 14 terminatesin a support means 15 in the form of a yoke rotatably mounting a singlefront wheel 16. The upper end of the steering column 14 in turnterminates in a simple steering handle 17.

In accordance with an important feature of the invention, the pair ofrear wheels 11 and 12 are coupled to the end portion of the footboard 10"by novel coupling means comprising a shaft 18 and link members 19 and20. The link members 19 and 20 are coupled to opposite ends of the shaft18 and have their other ends rigidly secured to the centers 21 and 22,respectively, of the wheels 11 and 12. By this arrangement, the wheels11 and 12 are eccentrically mounted with respect to the axis of theshaft 18. The spacing between the axis of shaft 18 and the axis of thewheels is indicated at r and is equal to about one-third the radius ofthe wheels.

Referring now to FIGURE 2, the operation of the improved scooter of thisinvention will be evident. Assume first that the scooter is in thedotted or phantom line position shown in FIGURE 2 wherein the numeralsdescribed heretofore are primed. In such position, the shaft 18' andcorresponding link 19' connecting to the wheel 11' are in a positionsuch that if the user places his weight on the footboard 10, a componentof rotative force will be developed to rotate the wheel 11' in thedirection of the arrow. This motion of the wheel 11 will bring it to thesolid line position shown at 11 in FIGURE 2 at which time the shaft 18and link 19 will be carried beyond their lowest point by momentum. Ifthe user pumps up and down on the footboard 10, his inertia can be madeto correspond with the period of rotation of the wheel 11 such that themomentum imparted to the vehicle during the downward movement of thefootboard 10 will be sufiicient to carry the shaft 18 and link member 19upwardly and to their initial position illustrated in phantom lines.Thus, the user need only shift his weight in an up and down motion topropel the scooter. This action effectively swings the footboard 10 inan up and down manner about the front wheel 16 as a pivot.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that the presentinvention has provided a rugged and simple toy scooter structure. Byemploying the pair of rear wheels as described, the scooter will standin an upright position even when stationary, and thus its use bychildren towards the lower end of the age range for which the device isdesigned is not difficult and does not require a intricate balancing.The invention thus provides an ideal intermediate motion type vehiclefor children too old for a tricycle and too young for a bicycle.

Minor modifications may be made in the structure without departing fromthe scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the improved scooteris not to be though of as limited to the exact embodiment shown.

What is claimed is:

A scooter comprising, in combination: an elongated footboard; a pair ofrear wheels in side-by-side coaxial relationship, said wheels beingaxially separated by a distance corresponding substantially to the widthof said footboard; a shaft rigidly mounted to the rear end portion ofsaid footboard, the axis of said shaft being parallel to and spaced fromthe axis of said wheels at distance approximately equal to one-third theradius of said wheels; links having first ends connected to the ends ofsaid shaft and second ends rigidly connected to the centers of saidwheels so that said wheels are eccentrically mounted with respect tosaid axis of said shaft; and a single forward steering Wheel andsteering means mounted to the front end portion of said footboard,whereby forward motion of said scooter causes said rear portion of saidfootboard to swing upwardly and downwardly in a vertical plane aboutsaid front steering wheel as a pivot.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,617,357 Walter Feb. 15, 1927 1,655,353 Barei Jan. 3, 1928 1,684,298Cash Sept. 11, 1928 2,013,843 Schwedhelm Sept. 10, 1935 2,086,471Chapman July 6, 1937 2,125,568 Huyssen et al. Aug. 2, 1 938

